REVISION NOTES FOR SYNOPTIC EXAM!!!!

miaxxx

Hi all, I have taken the Synoptic exam twice and failed both with 62%. I have passed all of my other exams but this one seems to be getting the better of me. I feel like I am constantly revising over the same things but nothing is going in!! If there is anyone out there that has passed this horrible exam, please could you send me some of your revision notes? I am re-sitting in Feb and need all the help I can get!!!! Thank you in advance

sharpy92

I'm re-sitting in Feb having also failed twice with 64 + 65%. From feedback on here and others I feel my down-fall may be not mentioning enough of the pre-release material in my answers. So I am going to now go back and read it as many times as I can and in any writing questions refer back to it as much as possible. As we are so close this could potentially be the difference between passing and failing!

CSan89

@sharpy92 You have hit the nail on the head about using the pre-release material in your answers. On my first attempt I didn't use them and got 64%. On my second attempt I used them and got 79%.
I remember reading in the examiners report that if you don't reference the pre-release material with your answers for some of the questions, then the higher marks are not accessible.

Good luck to you both.

sharpy92

CSan89 said:

@sharpy92 You have hit the nail on the head about using the pre-release material in your answers. On my first attempt I didn't use them and got 64%. On my second attempt I used them and got 79%.
I remember reading in the examiners report that if you don't reference the pre-release material with your answers for some of the questions, then the higher marks are not accessible.

Good luck to you both.

I've not mentioned them either time so i'm hoping with getting quite close without on my next go I can get high 70%'s like you!

miaxxx

Thank you both so much for the advice! Hopefully that is the difference between a pass and a fail... good luck @sharpy92 x

dee21

I purchased the Kaplan revision kit. I just got 70% but definitely only passed because of this book. It was £18 on everything is covered.

sharpy92

dee21 said:

I purchased the Kaplan revision kit. I just got 70% but definitely only passed because of this book. It was £18 on everything is covered.

I thought I had bought this, however, upon confirming with my tutor I actually got the Study Text which is more or less useless and has not helped me at all! If anyone is thinking of purchasing the book please make sure you get the Revision Kit like dee21 has!

JoJoMis

This might sound so stupid but I have no idea what it means to "reference the pre-release material". Like how exactly do you use it in your answers? Are you using the staff names? Perspectives? ....help...

CSan89

So for an example one of the objectives of the company is staff training which they are underperforming on. So when commenting on how a process isn’t being completed properly you could reference that it could be down to the poor training standards of the company.

Another could be linking the companies “green” commitments.

It doesn’t need to be loads of information but referencing in this way will give you access to higher marks as it will show that the answer you are giving is relevant to the company rather than just generic answers.

I don’t want to say too much so I don’t wade into talking about live assessment territory.

JoJoMis

Right, yeah that makes perfect sense. I'll try to look at it from that point of view from now on. Going over everything again just makes me realize how little effort I actually put into studying the first time around. I thought it will just be a walk in the park since I've always got over 80-90% in other assessments. Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy, right.

sehrish

can anyone tell me is there anybook i can buy that can help with understanding how to answer on current pre release material??????//

scottrowl

Hi,
I'm definitely not an AAT boffin or anything but I managed to pass my Synoptic 1st time (76%) so obviously not perfect but good enough for me!
My revision consisted of mock exams on the AAT website, mock exams from the Kaplan book, and also there's a really helpful YouTube video where a guy talks you through the mock answers and why/how he has reached those answers.
Obviously brush up on the other areas but I'd mainly recommend repetitively doing these mocks and then read up on areas you struggle with.
Hope this helps.

NickCraggs

I have shared my top tips in passing this exam in a Facebook Live post:

https://www.facebook.com/firstintuitionaat/videos/2349090771816431/

Good Luck everyone